Podcast Series: Innovations in Education

Explore the full series of eSchool News podcasts hosted by Kevin Hogan—created to keep you on the cutting edge of innovations in education.

10 reasons we love school librarians

Gone are the days when a school librarian’s job was defined by shushing, rocking, and reading.  While reading out loud and building a love of literacy is still a foundational part of their job in a school, school librarians wear many, many hats and touch many lives in the course of a day’s work.

As an avid, life-long reader, I can come up with dozens of things I love about school librarians and libraries (I was actually named by a librarian!) But for a broader perspective, I wanted to hear from my peers, colleagues, and the educators out there doing the heavy lifting, so I turned to influential library experts, educators, and social media to share their thoughts.

I loved what I heard from the people I spoke to. Many shared my own impressions, and some introduced me to their own reasons why school librarians are amazing at what they do. I’m proud to share my thoughts and what others told me here.…Read More

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6 things parents can do to boost school security efforts

As students head back to the classroom, parents of school-age children can play a significant role in helping assure violence prevention and school security measures are implemented in their child’s school.

Parents can be as influential as school board members, superintendents, principals, and teachers in helping prevent violence in schools. In fact, parents–who are also taxpayers and voters–have the power to effect change if they are willing to become involved both individually and collectively.

All members of the education community–including parents–need to be involved in helping provide a safe and secure environment where children can learn without fear. Don’t wait until something bad happens.…Read More

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3 strategies to teach STEAM in a blended environment

Before March 2020, there were many conversations about the benefits of minimizing screen time for young learners. Since the pandemic hit, educators and parents have had no choice but to rely on screens to reach and teach students. But screen-based learning is not always developmentally appropriate for young learners, and it is not well suited to some forms of learning. STEAM lessons in particular, with their exploratory and experiential elements, may seem impossible to deliver in a remote learning model.

But with the right tools and the right approach, we can keep engaging our young learners in STEAM. Here’s how educators, whether they’re teaching 100% virtual or in a blended learning environment, can teach STEAM concepts in a hands-on, playful way.

Grounding learning in hands-on manipulatives…Read More

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PresenceLearning Partners with the Council of Administrators of Special Education

PresenceLearning, the leading provider of live online special education related services for K-12 schools, today announced a new partnership with the Council of Administrators of Special Education (CASE). Through this partnership, PresenceLearning will support the professional development of CASE members by providing access to its clinical experts and influential partners, as well as offering exclusive webinars, presentations, and other programming throughout the year and at the upcoming 2020 CASE Virtual Fall Conference on November 5-7, 2020.

“We are thrilled to be expanding our partnership with PresenceLearning. As the leaders in delivering special education related services to students via teletherapy and tele-assessment, they are uniquely positioned to help our members navigate this especially challenging school year. We look forward to bringing more of their clinical expertise and content to our members,” said Phyllis Wolfram, CASE Executive Director.

CASE is an international professional education organization of members dedicated to shaping policies and practices which impact the quality of education. It is one of 18 divisions of the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) and supports members by providing opportunities to expand professional networks, exchange knowledge, and advance careers. Through this new partnership, CASE members will have opportunities to learn from PresenceLearning’s clinical experts, as well as influential partners such as Dr. Isaiah Pickens, CEO of iOpening Enterprises, who recently developed a trauma-informed, small group therapy program, for PresenceLearning to exclusively deliver remotely, designed to help students struggling with behavioral and mental health challenges.…Read More

3 ways to teach STEAM in a blended learning environment

Before March 2020, there were many conversations about the benefits of minimizing screen time for young learners. Since the pandemic hit, educators and parents have had no choice but to rely on screens to reach and teach students. But screen-based learning is not always developmentally appropriate for young learners, and it is not well suited to some forms of learning. STEAM lessons in particular, with their exploratory and experiential elements, may seem impossible to deliver in a remote learning model.

But with the right tools and the right approach, we can keep engaging our young learners in STEAM. Here’s how educators, whether they’re teaching 100% virtual or in a blended learning environment, can teach STEAM concepts in a hands-on, playful way.

Grounding learning in hands-on manipulatives…Read More

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Top 10 of 2014, No. 10: Mobile devices and mobile learning

eSchool News highlights some of the 10 most significant ed-tech developments of 2014, and mobile learning is No. 10

Each year, the eSchool News editors compile 10 of the most influential ed-tech developments and examine how those topics dominated K-12 ed-tech conversations. No. 10 on our list for 2014 is mobile learning.

This year, educators focused on putting mobile devices in students’ hands in an effort to help them learn valuable technology skills that will carry them through college and the workforce.…Read More

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The most influential person in education technology

I have had the a good fortune of speaking with good number of the leaders in education technology today, says Forbes. Since so many of these players have emerged from academe, the competition between companies is fierce certainly, but there is also a collegial willingness to acknowledge the successes of other companies. In the case of non-profits like edX, CEO Anant Agarawal says, the more companies that enter this space, the merrier. (Stay tuned for my interview with Agarwal on January 20th.) Several of these leaders acknowledge that the most influential person to the MOOC landscape has been Salman Khan…

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